Aim of the present study is to demonstrate problems of post - war community recovery and creation of hope after such a massive traumata such as war in former Yugoslavia. Working in the areas of special state concern (rehabilitation, empowering professionals, psychosocial projects) we found strong influence of women in their communities. After exodus (1991 ..1995.) of the population (two ethnicities), massive losses and devastation, post war recovery is much more than just infrastructure reconstruction (this is often neglected in the international community and country that is going through post-war recovery period).
Aim of the study was to determine what are the inherent strenghts of these women, their resilience factors and influence on community resilience. By focus group method 20 resourceful women, prominent in their communities (professionals, activists, women fighting for their families everyday life), were questioned how they cope with stress, how they create hope for themselves and their surroundings, what are their motives to be active in (ethnically devided) communities, how they influence their social context and social structures, how they are influenced by the context. It was found that all subjects in this sample showed strong capacity to withstand stressors (without manifest psychology disfunction), keeping positive attitude about life in general. We strongly believe that, developing projects in post war communities influenced by collosal traumata, it is important to be sensitive and relay on local resources, local resilience to support inherent strenghts.
Recorded: October 2009, Dubrovnik - Cavtat, Croatia.
Coping & Resilience International Conference
Organiser: The Brisbane Institute of Strengths Based Practice
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